The World In Our Heads: An Interview With Beach House

The music beat goes on at Wired, where I have been hard at work. This morning, I posted an interview with one of the best bands of the last three years. Click on, read up, post a comment. Wired loves the love. Speaking of...

The Worlds In Our Heads: An Interview With Beach House
Beach House's stunning sophomore effort Devotion has been out for a couple of months now, but it remains hard to shake. Its Lynchian dream sonics thrive on waking life, the way all great albums do, offering up sublime soundtracking for every possible environment. Mission accomplished.

Of course, everyone expected big things from Beach House after Pitchfork and other tastemakers latched onto the band's self-titled 2006 debut and didn't let go. But pianist/vocalist Victoria Legrand and multi-instrumentalist Alex Scally turned in even more addictive songs of love, loss and everything in between on Devotion. Legrand's ethereal voice takes center stage, much as Elizabeth Fraser's did for the similarly evocative Cocteau Twins, while her electric organs mind-meld with Scally's hypnotic guitar to form a lush background of spacetronica -- and not much else. Devotion is as understated as it is brilliant.

Listening Post queried Legrand on the movies in her mind and why tech is good for her backbeat but bad for her voice... MORE @ WIRED

Batman Gotham Knight Kicks Holy Ass

Well, my piece on the Animatrix-inspired Batman Gotham Knight has gone up, as promised. This time, my spiel made it to Wired, where the eye candy and critical writing is at. Post a comment, and tell them Morphizm sent you:

'Batmanime' Is a Blast in Batman: Gotham Knight
The geek machine has fired into overdrive for Christopher Nolan's incoming prequel sequel, The Dark Knight. But the untold hero of this summer's Batman assault may lie elsewhere -- in the Animatrix-inspired Batman: Gotham Knight, to be exact.

Like The Matrix franchise before it, the Batman franchise has learned that filtering your mythology through the kinetic template of anime can do wonders for your upgrades. Batman: Gotham Knight is that upgrade, and it looks kickass... MORE @ WIRED

Does Speed Racer Suck? What Is Suck?

I could read J. Hoberman's film reviews all day long. I'm particularly smitten with his clear-eyed criticism of The Wachowki Brothers' Speed Racer acid trip for LA Weekly:

Even more than most summer-season F/X fests, Speed Racer is a live-action/animation hybrid and, what’s more, proud of it. Bright, shiny and button-cute, the movie is a self-consciously tawdry trifle — a celluloid analog to the ribbon-bedecked, mirrored gewgaws that clever European settlers hoped to swap with the savages for Manhattan Island.

Post Up: My Bloody Valentine Stabs America

Sorry for the delay today, Morphizm pals. I've been sweating hard for Wired, who have helped me blog my brains out on a daily basis. Speaking of brains, mine can't wait for reunited geniuses My Bloody Valentine to hit the States. Good thing they just announced dates. That rhymed:

My Bloody Valentine To Bruise North America At Last
According to thesaurus-loving music blog Pitchfork, the lately reunited aural-gasmic quartet My Bloody Valentine has finally disclosed its plans for a North American tour. That mammoth whoosh you hear in the distance is thousands of credit cards being pulled out of their wallets and purses... MORE @ WIRED

Has No Age Made The Disc Of The Year?

It's hard to believe that two people can make such beautiful noise. But I'm a believer, as I explained for Metromix. And probably will for Wired too:

No Age
Nouns
It’s hard to find a disappointing track on "Nouns." "Teen Creeps" is a flawless mess of distortion and pop riffage. "Miner" is a maelstrom of My Bloody Valentine-meets-Fugazi beauty and the loud-quiet-loud stomp of "Cappo" is unrelentingly addictive. Stark instrumentals like "Keechie" and "Impossible Bouquet" are evocative and hypnotic. "Sleeper Hold" is the sweetest, lovelorn song you'll ever hear sneak out from behind a wall of squealing feedback. Even the indulgent electronica of "Things I Did When I Was Dead" unfurls into a cinematic climax. You can tell No Age is made up of two true-school skateboarders: they rarely miss a step... MORE @ METROMIX

Post Up: Iron Man's Heavy Metal Rise

So I started my new reporting gig for Wired this weekend, and had a blast. Especially on this long piece about the long arm of Iron Man, which opened last week and is killing at the box office. Just like Black Sabbath killed my eardrums. Speaking of:

Iron Man's Heavy Metal Rise
Iron Man took flight on May 2, but its soundtrack is out May 6. And although it features mostly film score from Ramin Djawadi and other composers, there is one headbanging tune worthy of Black Sabbath's seminal "Iron Man," which the blockbuster licensed for its trailers and features in its closing credits. That song is Suicidal Tendencies' "Institutionalized," the sardonic punk anthem which also appeared in the immortal sci-fi flick Repo Man. That's some righteous circularity. But Iron Man's sonic branches reach further, starting with Sabbath... MORE @ WIRED

Post Up: Jimi Porn, Indian Jewelry

Good news, Morphizm pals. Wired has signed me on as a reporter stalking the music, tech and culture beat, which is no place like home for me. I couldn't be happier. But the family of Jimi Hendrix could, according to my entry today for Wired's music blog Listening Post:

Jimi Hendrix Lives On, In Porn
"Have you ever been experienced?" the greatest guitar player who ever lived once asked, before answering "I have." And now everyone can see just how experienced Jimi Hendrix was, if porn kingpin Vivid Video is to be believed... MORE @ WIRED

An Interview With Indian Jewelry
It's hard to categorize the throbbing dance psychedelia that Indian Jewelry concocts out of their Houston-based launch pad, but I suppose I just did. The tongue-in-cheek ensemble falls somewhere in the sonic spectrum between My Bloody Valentine, Gram Rabbit and Brian Jonestown Massacre, but one could argue they lie outside of those comfortable coordinates as well.

You can decide for yourself by catching them on their current tour, or by listening in on their latest effort Free Gold, which drops May 20 from the very indie label We Are Free. Then again, you could also read the short but humorous exchange I conducted below with head jeweler Erika Thrasher on robots with filthy mouths and why the band shouldn't give away gold for free during a recession. That should do the trick... MORE @ WIRED

The Dark Knight? Gotham Knight, Baby.

The Dark Knight, Christopher Nolan's follow-up to Batman Begins is coming soon. But I'm as excited to see the anime iteration Batman Gotham Knight, which hits in July. More on the story later for Wired or Morphizm, which depends on the flip of Harvey Dent's coin.